NORFOLK, Va. - This month, News 3 is raising awareness of men's health issues and funds for the Movember Foundation.
READ: Movember 2022: Raising awareness and funds for men's health
This includes talking about prostate cancer. Aside from skin cancer, the American Cancer Society (ACS) said prostate cancer is the most common cancer in American men.
ACS officials also said prostate cancer develops more often in African American men and in Caribbean men of African ancestry than any other races.
Prostate cancer has impacted many in Hampton Roads, including Derek Williams. Williams is also one of the faces of News 3. Although you may not see him on TV, he works hard behind the scenes. Williams is a man passionate about his career and health.
“I said to myself, one day, let's get serious about this,” Williams said.
In 2007, Williams decided to get routine blood work done, including a PSA (prostate specific antigen) test, which is used for prostate cancer screening. His levels came back high, and after further testing, he got the news that changed his life. He had been diagnosed with prostate cancer.
“I was in shock,” Williams said. “I had never had cancer. Nobody in my family had cancer.”
According to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC), prostate cancer takes a big toll on Black men than other American men, including other men of color. MSKCC officials said Black men are 50 percent more likely to develop prostate cancer, and twice as likely to die from the disease. The reasons for this, MSKCC officials said, are not fully understood.
As for Williams, he immediately got to work looking at treatment options. Ultimately, he ended up at the Hampton University Proton Therapy Institute (HUPTI). The center has been seeing patients in Hampton Roads since 2010. HUPTI was just the eighth proton therapy center to open in the United States, according to HUPTI officials.
Right now, they're currently treating about 65 patients a day.
“We really cover the gamut of cancers, other than blood cancers,” HUPTI Executive Director Mary Beth Sullivan said. “We do see quite a few patients bringing themselves in just for a second opinion, even a third opinion.”
Dr. Allan Thornton is one of two radiation oncologists at HUPTI.
“We're really a physics laboratory in disguise,” Dr. Thornton told News 3.
News 3 asked Dr. Thornton what a usual appointment is like for patients undergoing proton therapy. He said, typically, patients are at the institute for an hour from start to finish. As far as how long the actual proton therapy treatment session takes, Dr. Thornton said that’s just 2 minutes.
“The advantage of proton therapy is we can stop the beam,” Dr. Thornton said.
Dr. Thornton also mentioned this also means doctors can help spare surrounding organs and the spinal cord during treatment sessions.
“I treat patients with tumors around the eyes, the base of the skull, the spinal cord,” he added. “It's my ability to shape the dose around the visual system, the spinal cord, and in our prostate patients, it's the rectum.”
He told News 3 another advantage of proton therapy versus other forms of cancer treatment is a greater quality of life and fewer side effects. In addition, he said the success rate with proton therapy on prostate cancer has been pretty good.
“For early-stage prostate cancer, the cure rate can vary from 92 to 99 percent, so it's a very curable tumor,” he said.
Sullivan said, starting next week, the institute will also start night treatments to get another 12 patients in per day.
“It's making it accessible,” Bill Thomas, Hampton University’s Associate Vice President for Governmental Relations said.
Thomas said the center, overall, is helping make more healthcare options available, especially for African American patients.
“About 30 percent, men and women, who attend this great facility are of African American descent,” Thomas said. “That is unheard of with new technologies and new medicine.”
“We're just trying to ring the bell loud enough so people can save their life, but most importantly, you don't have to live your life in misery,” Thomas said.
Ringing the bell is what Williams did after a few months of proton therapy treatment sessions. As of today, he’s 15 years cancer free.
“You wouldn't believe after you rang that bell, and you get done, that's one less thing you have to worry about is having cancer,” Williams said. “Right now, I'm a normal person like I'd never had it before.”
Williams is now 15 years cancer free and is an advocate for men's health always emphasizing the need to get tested.
“It needs to be done,” Williams said. “Cancer, it's not a black thing. It's not a white thing. Cancer is cancer.”
The American Cancer Society recommends having the discussion about screening for prostate cancer if you're 50 years old and at average risk.
If you're at high risk, that should start 45 years old. High risk includes African American men and men who have a close relative, such as your dad or a brother, diagnosed at an early age with prostate cancer (younger than 65).
